2021 Virtual Book Fairs
A year has gone by and Covid-19 has changed everyone's life in one way or another. For businesses it has often meant hardship, but also opportunities and in the case of the antiquarian book market the lack of actual physical fairs has led to a quick uptake by dealers and fair organisers seeing an opportunity in taking fairs online. Naturally, we are all looking forward to being able to go to a physical fair and discover a book or manuscript that no one else has spotted yet and seal the deal, but the fact is that 'hunting' for the perfect addition to the collection has changed from dashing around the aisles of a book fair to ensuring that you are one of the first to get online when a fair opens.
Most fair organisers managed to take their antiquarian book fairs online last year and the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA) announced recently that it is expanding its ‘Firsts’ online rare book fairs internationally. The first of those was 'Firsts Canada' in early February in partnership with the Association of Antiquarian Booksellers of Canada (ABAC/ALAC) and the next international fair under the 'Firsts' umbrella will be 'Firsts Italia' from 18-21 March featuring ALAI and ILAB exhibitors.
Pom Harrington, Chairman of 'Firsts' explains: "The pandemic has allowed us to work closely with all the fairs around the world to ensure that we spread the fairs out and every country has a date that doesn't clash with another country's dates, thus allowing for buyers to visit fairs around the world."
Following the success of its three online rare book fairs in 2020, the ABA developed its 'Firsts Online' platform in order to fill a need for ABA and ILAB booksellers to continue to trade during the pandemic and to reach international audiences while physical book fairs were paused. The Firsts Online platform has been improved and further developed to now offer a more refined experience for exhibitors and visitors alike. Working with their fair partner Biblio, the ABA decided to share its optimised platform with other antiquarian bookseller associations and give them the opportunity to showcase their memberships on a recurring basis in 2021.
Pom explains: "Of course we all want fairs to return in their physical form, but for the time being the online platform creates activity and adds value and works best for dealers who make an effort and get lists out there to coincide with the online fair. Last year, sales across all three online fairs were strong. With an average of 120 dealers participating, the fairs saw an estimate of £2,500,000 worth of books, maps and prints sold. Each fair saw over 130,000 page views for each fair."
"There are of course a lot of trade sales, but due to the online fairs attracting a more international audience, many dealers have sold to new customers. One dealer made a sale to a new European buyer for over £100,000 and when you keep in mind that the cost to participate is only a fraction of what a physical fair costs, it's a pretty good return for your money and an excellent marketing tool, if nothing else. Although fairs have certainly become more international - our next fair has dealers from South Africa and Argentina participating - it is fascinating to see that about 50% of visitors to fairs tend to come from the country where the association is based."
SLAM (the French national association affiliated to the ILAB, which brings together just over 230 antique booksellers) organised the first digital event in April 2019 to replace the exhibition it organises every year in April at the Grand Palais. SLAM then created a new platform (www.amorlibrorum) and held another fair online in December, where each exhibitor could present between 12 and 21 books. It was a great success, with 140 exhibitors registered, and 5,000 visitors (40% of them English-speaking) which resulted in 160 sales and nearly €700,000 worth of books and documents sold. These encouraging results mean that SLAM plans to use this format twice a year, in April and in December. In addition, they have also launched a brand new online event: on the 3rd of each month, at 3 pm (Paris time), for 3 days, exhibitors presenting 3 books each. They are called "e-Rendez-vous" and carry the motto "Enrich your collections, cultivate your curiosity".
The first one in February was an immediate success. 90 booksellers registered and 270 books were put forward for 6,000 visiting sessions resulting in 58 sales, i.e. 16% of the books exhibited! Hervé Valentin explains: "These virtual fairs are not intended to replace our real fairs. Our booksellers, whose vocation is to present selected, high quality books at physical fairs, are clearly waiting for their return. But these e-rendez-vous fairs allow us to keep in touch, to discover new spaces and are undoubtedly a new way of showing books. It allows collectors to buy books online guaranteeing the highest standards in terms of bibliophilia in the Internet jungle. What SLAM offers is a service without intermediaries, where the bookseller is master of his choices, his communication, his sales."
The Spring online fair season started with the Antiquariatsmesse Stuttgart. It was held from 29th January to 3rd February on a new online platform, but also launched a print catalogue in early January, which was sent to an impressive database - both were promoted in Germany and internationally through print, online and social media. In addition over 9,000 visitors accessed the catalogue's online version and the fair saw almost 13,000 unique views. Sibylle Wieduwilt was pleased with the result: "It proves that our decision to cancel the physical fair in good time and focus on the new platform, but also publishing a traditional catalogue, has been a success. We are thrilled that 20% of our visitors came from the US, proof that we have managed to widen our reach with the help of this new format."
ILAB organised an online conference for all the leading book fairs and that really helped to coordinate the timing of the fairs around the world better. It also sparked the idea to organise a Trans-Atlantic Book Fair between the ABA and ABAA, covering all of Europe and the Americas, which will take place online in July.
"The ABAA virtual fairs have been successful, with over 200 ABAA and ILAB exhibitors participating in the upcoming California Virtual Book Fair. The virtual book fairs have been an important way for booksellers and collectors to stay connected during this past year of closures and cancelled in-person events, and they have produced a number of unexpected benefits,” says Sheryl Jaeger, ABAA Vice President and Chair, Virtual Book Fair Committee. “The obvious—you don’t have to leave home, fly, or pack your wares. The virtual fairs also allow those prohibited by distance and/or cost from travelling to faraway places to exhibit at a fair or to participate. Customers can search the entire fair, quickly by product type, category, price, or keyword for those with special interests, or, if preferred, take a leisurely scroll through the aisles to visit exhibitors both new and familiar.”
The fourth instalment of the ABA’s online fair, Firsts Online Winter Edition on the new website firsts-online.com, starts tomorrow until 23rd February 2021, this is followed by the California Virtual Book Fair from 4th to 6th March, to Firsts Italia from 18th to 21st March 2021.